The 42-year-old Grant, younger brother of England head coach Andy Flower, is currently coaching Zimbabwe’s batsmen and his contract is going to end in August, ESPNcricinfo reported.

As Zimbabwe Cricket is not clear about whether they would reappoint Grant when his contract ends, he has emerged as a strong candidate to fulfil the role in Pakistani team.

But the PCB has made it clear that it may appoint a batting coach before the end of Grant’s tenure in August.

Several former Pakistani cricketers, including Zaheer Abbas and Saleem Malik also showed their interest to fulfil the position when the PCB published its advertisement last year, but the board was searching for a candidate accredited with at least Level 3 coaching and had five-year experience rubbing shoulders with top players.

The news of the PCB mulling over to appoint Grant as a batting coach had mixed reaction from critics. On the one hand, there are experts who poured scorn on the idea of considering Grant when Pakistan itself has experienced cricketers like Javed Miandad, Zaheer Abbas, Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq to name few.

Some saw Grant unfit for the job as they thought he himself was ordinary during his career and, according to them, the PCB considering him means it had run out of options. Meanwhile, Grant’s appointment would also bring disappointment for those who are against the induction of another foreign coach in the team as Pakistan have already two of them – Dav Whatmore (head coach) and Julian Fountain (fielding coach).

On the other hand, analysts in support of Grant opined that former national players as coach tried to manipulate team members which culminated in division among the players. To them, foreign coaches were more neutral, so Grant would be the best option. They also rejected the impression that Grant was ordinary and gave example of his brother, Andy, who is the head coach of a team like England.

Another reason Grant’s supporters give is that domestic coaches often failed in matches outside Pakistan because of their lack of know-how about the foreign pitches, and given Pakistan’s recent performance in South Africa, Grant is the right one to fulfil the role.

Grant has been coaching Zimbabwe’s batsmen since October 2010. During his career as a cricketer himself, he was capped 221 one-dayers and 67 Tests.